As the veil thins, the conviction deepens.

I grabbed my coat and raced out the door this morning, knowing that today, the 1st October, the veil between the worlds begins to thin, my mind racing, already the owl had woken me with his screech at 3am making sure I saw the start of the day, in the dark, his voice pieced the night, his shrill would have driven a fear into many souls, a manic energy filled the night sky, the owl had flown this energy into the day and into the new month, and it’s with this fraught, tension I left the house a few hours later. Ahead of me, the hedgerows had been “butchered” by the farmer, discarded and scattered on the road were the remains of what once was beautiful, I marched on, my head angry, searching for any meaning with stories that I was making up filling my mind, anger bubbling to the surface my thoughts racing at a million miles an hour, conversations running though my brain. It was then I felt Link nuzzle his nose into my hand, I looked down at him, his eyes staring into what felt like my soul, my heart, I stopped, how had I got this far? I had been searching for meaning I had seen nothing the internal noise I had allowed to overtake me. I couldn’t even recall walking along the road this far, Looking at link for guidance, we stopped and we paused. I looked around me, and I saw silence, the world was a picture, it wasn’t going to give away any of its secrets to those who weren’t listening and up until that moment I hadn’t been.

I calmed my thoughts and I opened my mind to the world around me and we continued in the now, my eyes open to the world once again. It is all very well saying you are listening but to hear is to learn, and when the world quickens, when we need to hear do we get dragged into the murk, the speed, the whirlwind or is that when we remember we need to live our words our intent if we are going to stay the course.

The whirlwind had taken me this morning, now I was being reminded, I’m here to stay the course, to follow the path.

We approached the section of the path where the tree had fallen a few days before and we had found a new way, it had now been removed, ahead were both pathways, Link sniffed around, crossing from the old path to the new one, they were now the same, the new path merged into the old. The path now, has history, experience, ancestors and is new, innovative and of our time.

I felt the overwhelming feeling that the journey I am undertaking isn’t one that I will take on my own. And the path is bigger than I had imagined. The ground beneath my feet was soft, the rain over night and the drizzle of the morning had made the soil muddy. We walked on our way, no racing thoughts, no wandering minds just me, the soil the path and link.

The world was still quiet, no grand gestures, no loud noises, I looked at the hedgerow, I had judged, I had seen a beauty destroyed, but nature isn’t like this. Why had I considered beauty to be in the leaves and berries an outward beauty, I looked deeper. Now, the hedgerow will lay waiting, until spring when it will turn its energy into new growth. But now instead of continuing to grow tall, where it will bend and break in the winds, it will grow thick and dense. This will provide a home for young small birds to form new life, it will protect this life from the birds of prey as they are too large to enter this protective habitat. The fruits it will bear will sit within a stable structure making it easy for animals to collect. This “butchering” enables life. I felt humbled.

I had judged the beauty on what society values, the colour, the sight, youth almost but could now see the true beauty, in depth and soul and heart. True beauty is not skin deep. Am I prepared to be judged by those that only “see” skin deep? The sacrifice, resilience and strength of purpose, the courage of the hedgerows conviction struck me.

I felt like I was being asked, do you have the strength of the hedgerow, can you stay true when those around will judge you, can you stick to the path when questioned by those around. Do you have the staying power. This today was a test. I reaffirmed my intent, I stated my purpose. I drew my strength from nature. I thanked link for being my guide. We stepped out of the field my boots caked with mud, I splashed around in the puddle and set off on the road, I turned around and saw my footprints, a legacy for those to follow in my path, but those footprints will not leave a mark on the land for long, they will serve a purpose and then they will be washed away.

We walked on, in the hedges the wren and robin hopped along side me.

I know wren, he always appears to me when I need to be reminded of the mystical path, he reminds me of the fae folk, and today he was reminding me to stay true, the Robin reminding me my love ones are near.

We walked back and I looked at the hedgerow again but this time with fresh and enlightened eyes. Over the hedgerow and into the distance I could see clearly now since the hedgerow had been pruned and I understood.